Today I had the privilege to speak with Vamsi Sistla, who will be joining us for the Future of Telecommunications Panel.
Here is Vamsi's Bio--below please find more about our conversation:
Vamsi Sistla, Director, Mobile Entertainment, TV Guide
Vamsi Sistla has 15 years of experience in industries spanning from media & entertainment, cable television, interactive TV, video on demand, online digital media, technology market research and mobile platforms.
Vamsi is currently director of mobile entertainment at TV Guide where he manages mobile products, operations and engineering resources. Vamsi works closely with leading mobile operators such as Verizon, Cingular (AT&T), Sprint and Amped to deploy mobile entertainment products such a streaming video, video guidance, SMS, remote recording and other advanced interactive features. Vamsi liaises with mobile vendors and partners as part of his daily duties. In the past Vamsi provided advisory services to leading technology & media companies on their product strategy and in dealing with disruption of innovation.
Vamsi graduated from Oakland University with a Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1995 and currently enrolled in Advanced Project Management program with Stanford University.
We spoke briefly about the future of DRM, and how one of the problems with it is that once somebody purchases a song or movie, what happens if the device maker or DRM provider goes out of business? Then the media will no longer be playable, and one will have to buy it again.
For instance, what if itunes went under, or someday, in the far future, just decided to call it quits? I know many people who have spent thousands upon thousands of dollars on itunes songs--no longer would they be able to play that content, nor pass it along, as one can with a CD or DVD or VHS tape, or even mp3s.
The first to solve this problem of longetivity and durable licensing will be ahead of the pack.
Vamsi will join us on The Future of Telecommunications panel: "With access to film, television, music, electronic games and the internet, the convergence of the new media industries is graphically illustrated in the content available through mobile phones and other hand held devices."
Again--the whole question of DRM comes into play here. If I like a certain song, will I have to buy it for my ipod, my cell phone, my car, and my cd player? Ineroperable DRM, or the development of some other system, would rock. Come hear what leading experts have to say about all this.
More soon!
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Future of Music / Future of Movies / Future of Technology / Opportunity Abounds
Well, I headed on down to Newport for the John Wayne Centennial Gala, and it affirmed some things I've been thinking.
The future of music is the future of movies is the future of technology, and that's what's so awesome about the first day of BABC 2007:
http://babc2007.com/content.asp?pageid=85
• California and the U.K.; Connecting the Centers of Creativity
• The Future of the Internet.
• The Future of the Music Industry.
• Reel Trends in the Virtual World
• The Future of Film and Television.
• Lunchtime Keynote Speaker.
• The Future of Telecommunications.
• The Future of Retailing.
• The Future of Advertising.
• Growth Investments in New and Emerging Media.
• The Future of Sports.
• Gala Evening Event
As I listened to the song "God Bless John Wayne" sung by Wayne's grandaughter Jennifer--who just signed with BMI in Nashville and will soon be facing all the DRM issues recording artists face--I realized there's a lot of money to be made in studying Epic Story and the Classic Western.
In approaching tomorrow's DRM systems, we would be wise to begin by watching Sergio Leone's Fistful of Dollars, where Clint Eastwood rides into town to find two warring bosses, whereupon he says, "That crazy bellringer was right--there's money to be made in a place like this."
The field is wide open when it comes to creating tomorrow's distribution systems, so come hear Simon Wright--the Chief Executive Officer for Virgin Entertainment Group International, and Jay Quatrini, Esq., Partner, Davenport Lyons - Music & Entertainment discuss The Future of the Music Industry.
The same classical values guiding the rising artistic renaissance will protect the artists' intellectual property. The immortal ideals which guide the story of blockbuster books and movies such as The Matrix, Lord of the Rings, Braveheart, The Chronicles of Narnia, and Star Wars (all classic Westerns with the epic showdown at the end), are the very same ideals underlying the United States Constitution. These classic ideals--which pervade Homer, Plato, Shakespeare, and the Bible--are the source of both epic story and property rights, of law and business, of academia and civilization.
There are billions of dollars to be made in reviving the Epic, and not just in movies. The next generation of technological innovations, which allow artists to protect and profit from their creations, will be of epic proportions; for the greater glory of the internet has yet to be realized. The rising generation is longing for epics of its own, as demonstrated with the recent success of 300 at the boxoffice. My students love The Odyssey, as they read it beside John Bogle's--the founder and former CEO of Vangurd--Battle for The Soul of Capitalism, and those movies which throw the classical ideals up upon the silver screen in the contemporary language shall be great long-term investments.
So come join Dean Garfield, Executive Vice President, Business Development, Motion Picture Association of America and Claus Nehmzow, PA Consulting Group, as they discuss The Future of Film.
Opportunities abound for all, and it sometimes seems that billions are being left on the table in the realm of story and technology. The question "What ever happened to the Western?" came up this past weekend on a panel entitled Wayne and the Western, which included Brit Eddie Stacey--stunt coordinator and second unit director (Gladiator, Batman, The Last King of Scotland) who'd worked with John Wayne in Ireland and England--and A.C. Lyles (American Masters: Preston Sturges: The Rise and Fall of an American Dreamer, Johnny Reno, The Making of 'Sunset Boulevard').
Well, a few reasons for the demise of the Western were discussed:
1) nobody's writing good Westerns anymore--neither novels nor screenplays
2) good vs. evil, and thus the final showdown, are out of vogue--and without the showdown. . .
3) the kids are all playing video games these days
4) it's hard to picture Orlando Bloom or Toby McGuire leading a cavalry charge
5) everyone's just remaking remakes, as they consider it to be less risky. But in art, taking no risks is the greatest risk of all.
And perhaps these reasons explain why the entire boxoffice is in decline.
Winston Churchill said, "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty," and thus opportunity abounds.
Imagine the John Wayne video game. Imagine classical westerns shot in the contemporary context. Fistful of Dollars, which was shot for less than $200,000 in Spain, and which launched Clint Eastwood as an international star, reinvented the genre; and right now some indie filmmaker is likely reinventing the genre with a no-name star--some "Man with no name" who will claim the renaisance's fame. John Fords and Sergio Leones--the world awaits you, along with Louis L'Amours, J.R.R. Tolkiens, and Larry McMurtry's. The pen is mightier than the sword, and in the beginning there was the word.
As sure as The Odyssey--replete with the first showdown in all of Western literature--has lasted 2800 years, the Western will never be out of date.
The Odyssey is a story about forgoing the short-term temptations of the Sirens and Lotus Eaters to make on home. It's a love story--about returning on home to faithful Penelope after twenty years of fighting for one's country. And it's a story about property rights--about rightfully reclaiming that which ones owns--one's home.
Any DRM system or movie which harbors the Odyssey's ideals, and which grants them to their rightful owner--the artists/creators--shall rock the world.
Opportunity abounds. Come join us to discuss this future.
Jennifer Wayne & Dr. E
The future of music is the future of movies is the future of technology, and that's what's so awesome about the first day of BABC 2007:
http://babc2007.com/content.asp?pageid=85
• California and the U.K.; Connecting the Centers of Creativity
• The Future of the Internet.
• The Future of the Music Industry.
• Reel Trends in the Virtual World
• The Future of Film and Television.
• Lunchtime Keynote Speaker.
• The Future of Telecommunications.
• The Future of Retailing.
• The Future of Advertising.
• Growth Investments in New and Emerging Media.
• The Future of Sports.
• Gala Evening Event
As I listened to the song "God Bless John Wayne" sung by Wayne's grandaughter Jennifer--who just signed with BMI in Nashville and will soon be facing all the DRM issues recording artists face--I realized there's a lot of money to be made in studying Epic Story and the Classic Western.
In approaching tomorrow's DRM systems, we would be wise to begin by watching Sergio Leone's Fistful of Dollars, where Clint Eastwood rides into town to find two warring bosses, whereupon he says, "That crazy bellringer was right--there's money to be made in a place like this."
The field is wide open when it comes to creating tomorrow's distribution systems, so come hear Simon Wright--the Chief Executive Officer for Virgin Entertainment Group International, and Jay Quatrini, Esq., Partner, Davenport Lyons - Music & Entertainment discuss The Future of the Music Industry.
The same classical values guiding the rising artistic renaissance will protect the artists' intellectual property. The immortal ideals which guide the story of blockbuster books and movies such as The Matrix, Lord of the Rings, Braveheart, The Chronicles of Narnia, and Star Wars (all classic Westerns with the epic showdown at the end), are the very same ideals underlying the United States Constitution. These classic ideals--which pervade Homer, Plato, Shakespeare, and the Bible--are the source of both epic story and property rights, of law and business, of academia and civilization.
There are billions of dollars to be made in reviving the Epic, and not just in movies. The next generation of technological innovations, which allow artists to protect and profit from their creations, will be of epic proportions; for the greater glory of the internet has yet to be realized. The rising generation is longing for epics of its own, as demonstrated with the recent success of 300 at the boxoffice. My students love The Odyssey, as they read it beside John Bogle's--the founder and former CEO of Vangurd--Battle for The Soul of Capitalism, and those movies which throw the classical ideals up upon the silver screen in the contemporary language shall be great long-term investments.
So come join Dean Garfield, Executive Vice President, Business Development, Motion Picture Association of America and Claus Nehmzow, PA Consulting Group, as they discuss The Future of Film.
Opportunities abound for all, and it sometimes seems that billions are being left on the table in the realm of story and technology. The question "What ever happened to the Western?" came up this past weekend on a panel entitled Wayne and the Western, which included Brit Eddie Stacey--stunt coordinator and second unit director (Gladiator, Batman, The Last King of Scotland) who'd worked with John Wayne in Ireland and England--and A.C. Lyles (American Masters: Preston Sturges: The Rise and Fall of an American Dreamer, Johnny Reno, The Making of 'Sunset Boulevard').
Well, a few reasons for the demise of the Western were discussed:
1) nobody's writing good Westerns anymore--neither novels nor screenplays
2) good vs. evil, and thus the final showdown, are out of vogue--and without the showdown. . .
3) the kids are all playing video games these days
4) it's hard to picture Orlando Bloom or Toby McGuire leading a cavalry charge
5) everyone's just remaking remakes, as they consider it to be less risky. But in art, taking no risks is the greatest risk of all.
And perhaps these reasons explain why the entire boxoffice is in decline.
Winston Churchill said, "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty," and thus opportunity abounds.
Imagine the John Wayne video game. Imagine classical westerns shot in the contemporary context. Fistful of Dollars, which was shot for less than $200,000 in Spain, and which launched Clint Eastwood as an international star, reinvented the genre; and right now some indie filmmaker is likely reinventing the genre with a no-name star--some "Man with no name" who will claim the renaisance's fame. John Fords and Sergio Leones--the world awaits you, along with Louis L'Amours, J.R.R. Tolkiens, and Larry McMurtry's. The pen is mightier than the sword, and in the beginning there was the word.
As sure as The Odyssey--replete with the first showdown in all of Western literature--has lasted 2800 years, the Western will never be out of date.
The Odyssey is a story about forgoing the short-term temptations of the Sirens and Lotus Eaters to make on home. It's a love story--about returning on home to faithful Penelope after twenty years of fighting for one's country. And it's a story about property rights--about rightfully reclaiming that which ones owns--one's home.
Any DRM system or movie which harbors the Odyssey's ideals, and which grants them to their rightful owner--the artists/creators--shall rock the world.
Opportunity abounds. Come join us to discuss this future.
Jennifer Wayne & Dr. E
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Welcome to BABC 2007!
Hello there--my name is Dr. Elliot McGucken, and I'd like to invite everyone to join us in LA on May 17th and 18th for The British American Business Council Annual Transatlantic Business Conference.
Over the next few days, I'll be highlighting various aspects of the BABC's awesome entrepreneurial lineup.
The theme is "the future," and as the founder of ArtsEntrepreneurship.com and HerosJourneyEntrepreneurship.org, I'm very much looking forward to witnessing the most distinguished panels throughout the two-day event.
Thursday's speakers/panelists including Sean Moriarty, President and CEO, Ticketmaster; David Hill, CEO, Direct TV; Colin Callender, CBE, President, HBO Films International; Simon Wright, CEO, Virgin Entertainment Group; and keynote speaker Timothy J. Leiweke, President and CEO, AEG (Anschutz Entertainment Group).
Friday's panels focus on socially-conscious entrepreneurship and environmentally-friendly innovation. As a Ph.D. physicist who has spent some time studying solar cells for an artificial retina and taught a class on environmental physics, I'm very much looking forward to Friday's lineup of experts. As technology advances, renewable energy, which is already less expensive environmentally, will become less expensive monetarily. From wind power, to solar power, to harnessing the power of the ocean's tides and waves, to biofuels and hydrogen engines, come hear from a distinguished panel on the cutting edge of it all:
Over the next few days, I'll be highlighting various aspects of the BABC's awesome entrepreneurial lineup.
The theme is "the future," and as the founder of ArtsEntrepreneurship.com and HerosJourneyEntrepreneurship.org, I'm very much looking forward to witnessing the most distinguished panels throughout the two-day event.
Thursday's speakers/panelists including Sean Moriarty, President and CEO, Ticketmaster; David Hill, CEO, Direct TV; Colin Callender, CBE, President, HBO Films International; Simon Wright, CEO, Virgin Entertainment Group; and keynote speaker Timothy J. Leiweke, President and CEO, AEG (Anschutz Entertainment Group).
Friday's panels focus on socially-conscious entrepreneurship and environmentally-friendly innovation. As a Ph.D. physicist who has spent some time studying solar cells for an artificial retina and taught a class on environmental physics, I'm very much looking forward to Friday's lineup of experts. As technology advances, renewable energy, which is already less expensive environmentally, will become less expensive monetarily. From wind power, to solar power, to harnessing the power of the ocean's tides and waves, to biofuels and hydrogen engines, come hear from a distinguished panel on the cutting edge of it all:
11.00-11.45am, Friday
Wind, Sun, Sea & Biofuels, the Future Now
Jonathan Briggs, Director,
Des McGinnis, Head of Business Development, Ocean Power Delivery
Dr. Richard Hamilton, CEO, CERES
Michael Rosenfeld, Vice Consul, British Consulate
Professor Harry Atwater, CalTech
Moderator: John Goetz Esq., Partner, Jones Day
Monday, April 16, 2007
Announcement
LOS ANGELES - The City of Los Angeles has been selected to host one of the most important transatlantic business development and networking events of the year, the annual conference of the British American Business Council, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced today. “The United Kingdom is one of our strongest allies both politically and economically, and we share many of the same concerns over the global issues that will be addressed by this conference,” said Mayor Villaraigosa. “There is a tremendous amount of synergy between the United Kingdom and Los Angeles.”
The two-day conference called FUTURE NOW will bring together prominent business leaders from the United Kingdom and the United States to discuss how the digital revolution is changing the entertainment and new media industries, joint efforts to combat climate change, the outlook for renewable resources and homeland security. The conference will be held May 17-18 at the Marina Del Rey Marriott Hotel.
“LA is the creative capital of the United States, and the UK also is a world leader in entertainment, communications and emerging media,” said Mayor Villaraigosa. “We are both on the cutting edge of alternative energy research and are engaged in numerous joint initiatives to combat climate change. This conference will provide a platform for key business leaders and decision-makers on these issues to examine the present and chart the future.” Among the speakers at the BABC 2007 conference (organized by the BABC LA) will be Timothy J. Leiweke, President and CEO of Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), one of the world's leading presenters of sports and entertainment programming, as well as the developer and operator of such prestigious venues as STAPLES Center, The Home Depot Center, the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles and the Millennium Dome in London.
Attendees also will meet visionaries such as Sean Moriarty, President and CEO of Ticketmaster; Colin Callender, President of HBO Films International; Simon Wright, CEO of Virgin Entertainment Group; and Doug Perlman, President of IMG Media, a global sports, entertainment and media company. British Consul General Robert Peirce will speak, as well as energy and environmental experts from ARUP, British Petroleum, Southern California Edison and several prestigious universities and research centers in Southern California.
“The opportunity to meet and network with people of this caliber in the business world is unique,” said Paul J. Wright, Esq., international attorney and President of the BABC Los Angeles. “The structure of FUTURE NOW allows for the exchange of ideas, in-depth conversations and even private meetings with our speakers for the appropriate people. It should appeal to anyone who is seriously interested in doing business with these high profile companies and organizations. The selection of Los Angeles as the site of the BABC 2007 conference is an important recognition of the leading role Los Angeles plays in today’s global economy.”
Last August, Tony Blair met with the Mayor and other prominent political, business and community leaders from Los Angeles, the first trip ever to the city by a sitting British Prime Minister. Just eight weeks later, Villaraigosa took his first overseas trip as mayor to the United Kingdom, where he addressed the shared concern of climate change. And in October, the First Minister of Scotland, Jack McConnell came to Southern California – another first - to reinforce business links, as well as joint scientific and educational programs.
“There is certainly a strong trend of cooperation and working together that has developed between Los Angeles and the United Kingdom,” Wright said. “The goal of our organization, and certainly of this conference, is to strengthen those ties by fostering personal and business relationships between the key people involved.”
For more information on the BABC 2007 conference, visit www.babc2007.com
The two-day conference called FUTURE NOW will bring together prominent business leaders from the United Kingdom and the United States to discuss how the digital revolution is changing the entertainment and new media industries, joint efforts to combat climate change, the outlook for renewable resources and homeland security. The conference will be held May 17-18 at the Marina Del Rey Marriott Hotel.
“LA is the creative capital of the United States, and the UK also is a world leader in entertainment, communications and emerging media,” said Mayor Villaraigosa. “We are both on the cutting edge of alternative energy research and are engaged in numerous joint initiatives to combat climate change. This conference will provide a platform for key business leaders and decision-makers on these issues to examine the present and chart the future.” Among the speakers at the BABC 2007 conference (organized by the BABC LA) will be Timothy J. Leiweke, President and CEO of Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), one of the world's leading presenters of sports and entertainment programming, as well as the developer and operator of such prestigious venues as STAPLES Center, The Home Depot Center, the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles and the Millennium Dome in London.
Attendees also will meet visionaries such as Sean Moriarty, President and CEO of Ticketmaster; Colin Callender, President of HBO Films International; Simon Wright, CEO of Virgin Entertainment Group; and Doug Perlman, President of IMG Media, a global sports, entertainment and media company. British Consul General Robert Peirce will speak, as well as energy and environmental experts from ARUP, British Petroleum, Southern California Edison and several prestigious universities and research centers in Southern California.
“The opportunity to meet and network with people of this caliber in the business world is unique,” said Paul J. Wright, Esq., international attorney and President of the BABC Los Angeles. “The structure of FUTURE NOW allows for the exchange of ideas, in-depth conversations and even private meetings with our speakers for the appropriate people. It should appeal to anyone who is seriously interested in doing business with these high profile companies and organizations. The selection of Los Angeles as the site of the BABC 2007 conference is an important recognition of the leading role Los Angeles plays in today’s global economy.”
Last August, Tony Blair met with the Mayor and other prominent political, business and community leaders from Los Angeles, the first trip ever to the city by a sitting British Prime Minister. Just eight weeks later, Villaraigosa took his first overseas trip as mayor to the United Kingdom, where he addressed the shared concern of climate change. And in October, the First Minister of Scotland, Jack McConnell came to Southern California – another first - to reinforce business links, as well as joint scientific and educational programs.
“There is certainly a strong trend of cooperation and working together that has developed between Los Angeles and the United Kingdom,” Wright said. “The goal of our organization, and certainly of this conference, is to strengthen those ties by fostering personal and business relationships between the key people involved.”
For more information on the BABC 2007 conference, visit www.babc2007.com
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